When Apple shipped the iPad, it didn't pre-load a weather application. This was a smart move by Apple. The pre-loaded iPhone weather app stinks. The app from the Weather Channel or a bookmark to Weatherunderground's iPhone optimized site is superior.

With Apple deciding to forgo an official application on the iPad it opened up the field for third party weather apps like Weather Channel and WeatherBug, which both gave away their apps. Now, both apps are in the top 40 of free downloads.

But even with those excellent free applications available, Weather HD shot its way up the paid applications charts.

Weather HD developer Amr Ramadan says, "We needed the application to be easy to use, and look downright gorgeous. It had to be a weather application that felt and looked different to use, so that people would love to use it, and love to show it off."

"If it was just a list of numbers, it wouldn't have been any different from checking up the weather on the Internet or a phone."

Amr's plan worked. While the other weather apps on the iPad feel like web pages, Weather HD feels like a ride. You get zooming images of the weather as you see the forecast.

Amr tells us Weather HD is getting thousands of downloads a day. In the next few days he thinks it reaches tens of thousands of downloads on daily basis. Considering there's only 500,000+ iPads out there, it's pretty darn good.

Of course, those download numbers are tiny compared to the free applications. Weather Channel is number six in the free downloads. Based on data from ABC and USA Today, it probably has ~175,000 downloads.